"A Committee of Correspondence"

08 May 2011

#Dennis Funck - Artist In Rustic Wood Objects

Last month I wrote of Dennis Funck, the man who makes birdhouses and bird brooding houses from old knobby bits of tree trunk in his native Pennsylvania.

Today, my wife and I saw him again at the University of Virginia's Arboretum Garden Show in White Post, Virginia in Clarke County. The day was bright, the air was warm, the crowd was large, friendly and polite.

Dennis was rhere with two tables my wife had asked him to make.

The tops are made of Indian Cigar Tree and the legs are Cedar and White Pine. They are for our back yard outdoor kitchen. The walking stick he had made for himself. I collect walking sticks. I admired the White Tail antler worked into the top and he gave it to me.

I particularly liked a bench he brought with him to the show.

The top is Osage Orange and the legs are Cedar. It is a beautiful piece.

Craftsmen like Dennis are treasures. His bird houses have intrigued me since PL first posted a picture of one over a year ago. I'll be looking for him. I encourage everyone to seek out these craftsmen and craftswomen not just for their creations, but to chat them up. They are invariably wonderful people to know. You will not be disappointed.

Mmmmmm mushrooms. Never encountered Indian Cigar Tree or Osage Orange. My dad was a lumberman, carpenter and carver of both rustic and fine crafted furniture and cabinetry, as well as occasional object d' art. Sadly, my skills, particularly his astounding fine joinery are not of his calibre, tho he did teach us as well as we would learn, to my eternal benefit.

Today it'll just be a little cedar gate for the cottage garden. I have a massive Tamarack felled last spring I'll be culling slabs from for a couple of tables for one of the docks. The blackflies have just started to appear, so I'd best get offline and out to it!

Especially as yesterday was so fine all I managed was to hang all the bird/hummingbird feeders before succumbing to the chair and the view. . . .

The Osage Orange/ Hedge Apple can reach stately proportions. After Korea when my Dad returned home he was assigned to Ft. Riley. They had planted Hedge Apple all around there. As shade trees and lining streets and boulevards.
They were huge. One of the things I remember from the time we were there were the battles us kids had with the grapefruit sized fruits.
It's an amazing wood, Extremely heavy and can lie on the ground forever without rotting, great firewood except for the sparks and sure will dull a saw. I believe the fumes coming off a power saw blade are also supposed to be poisonous.
I found out after working with it that the beautiful golden orange color will get darker and darker with exposure to sunlight.

PL
Yes,the tree is native to parts of Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas.
It was found to be highly adaptable and is fast growing.
During the WPA it was widely planted as shelter belts and wind breaks.
Planted closely it grows into an impregnable hedge.
A few people tried to get them started here, but I guess the high altitude is just too much.
Highest BTU content of any wood in NA.

Gentlemen:
The hedge tree is amazing. I've never known of one dying. I heard the were used for hedges because you could cut one and stick it in the ground and it will grow.

John: your hedge trees at Ft Riley are about 150 miles west of me. They are one of the last trees to leaf out in this area which leads alot of fools to think they are dead and try to cut them down, much to their sorrow. And yes, that wood is orange colored and I love the smell of hedge balls.

I had to look up the Indian Cigar Tree. Once I saw a picture, I remembered a large one near my old grammar school. As any kid would, we always played with those huge seed pods... had countless sword/knife fights with them. Not far from that tree was a massive choke cherry tree. We would use the many burls as foot and hand holds to climb it. I get feeling that John Minnerath would appreciate the wood from both those trees.

Hi Pat,
Just inside a chain link fence there were Indian Cigar Trees surrounding the play ground of the elementary school I attended. Great fun to climb at recess when the teachers weren't looking....
Regards,
Russ

Thanks for sharing the Wood work pictures Col..I Love natural wood Products like this...There are shops along the Oregon Coast from The Giant Redood Forests down South by California on up the Coast...many have Beautiful Wood Furniture of all kinds..From Beds to Chairs..to beautiful Wood Burl Bowls and Vases..With fantasic colors and finishes..Nice we share this interest in Common Pat...Enjoy your nice new Pieces..

The nice thing about threads like this is we get to see the beautiful workmanship and artistry of folks like Dennis Funck.
And read comments by others who appreciate what grows around us, giving us a break from the constant questions of how to deal with the rest of the dangerous world.
I'd like to be wandering down along the Wind River this morning, but I'm sitting here watching the snow come down and looking over at the Cottonwoods along the river wondering when there will finally be a tint of green.